Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Angry Birds, Dragon Quest, FIFA Soccer, and Silent Hill are the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
- BAFTA Games Awards: All the Winners from 2003 to Today
- Clair Obscur Completes the Sweep by Winning “Best Game” at 2025-2026 BAFTA Games Awards
- Boss Fight Books to Get a New Look for Richard Moss’s “Age of Empires”
- GDC Awards: All the Winners from 1996 to Today
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- Spore: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- We Pitched a Museum a 1993 Game Hint Line (And They Actually Said Yes) – Yarn Spinner (2026)
- The History Of The Word “Metroidvania” And How It Spread – A Critical Hit (2025)
- Creator of Hit Game Shovel Knight Is at a ‘Make or Break’ Moment – Bloomberg (2025)
- Shadow of the Colossus: An oral history – Design Room (2025)
Most Recent: PC
New Releases: Pokken Tournament, EA Sports UFC 2, Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, More
Put your dukes up, this week’s new release report is looking for a fight…
Nintendo and Bandai Namco kick things off with Pokken Tournament, a Wii U adaptation of the relatively recent arcade game. If you’ve ever wanted to take control of your favorite Pokemon as they battle it out, now’s your chance.
A bit more down to Earth, but featuring fighters who are equally bizarre (cough Mike Tyson cough), is EA Sports UFC 2. EA’s second trip inside “The Octagon” for the PS4 and Xbox One promises a more realistic fighting experience and deeper Career options.
Also available this week is Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games for the 3DS. While the two mascots won’t be trading blows, the Olympics always bring out a strong sense of competition for the whole world. And Mario versus Sonic is a fight that’ll probably never be settled.
Finally this week, Terraria is now available as a retail release for the 3DS, and Need For Speed will race onto the PC.
A full list of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox One
Tagged EA Sports UFC 2, Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Need For Speed, Pokken Tournament, Terraria
Far Cry: Primal was the best-selling game of February 2016
It’s time to listen to the mastodon roar as Ubisoft’s Far Cry: Primal was declared the best-selling game of February 2016 by The NPD Group. Proving that players might be in the market for more titles that feature pre-modern warfare, Far Cry: Primal beat out Call of Duty: Black Ops III, which took the #2 slot.
Several other new releases broke into the top ten last month, including Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 at #4 and Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright at #9. But the most surprising result might be the less-than-stellar debut of Capcom’s Street Fighter V. Even after a big push from Sony, the much-hyped fighting game was only able to punch its way to #7.
Sales of new PS3 and Xbox 360 games continued to drop last month, and total retail spending on new games slipped 10% from February 2015. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, NPD’s Liam Callahan said: “New physical software trends suffered due to a sharp decline in seventh generation consoles of 52% despite the 14% (or $28 million growth) in eighth generation software. Portable software also had a drop of 30% due to a poor comparison to the launch of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D, which coincided with the launch of the New 3DS.”
A complete look at last month’s top ten best-selling titles can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Fallout 4, Far Cry: Primal, Grand Theft Auto V, Lego Avengers, Minecraft, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4, NBA 2K16, NPD, Street Fighter V
Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture leads with 10 nominations at the 2016 BAFTA Games Awards
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) bestowed some absolutely rapturous acclaim on Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture yesterday. The game, which was developed by The Chinese Room and released exclusively for the PS4, was nominated in ten categories for this year’s BAFTA Games Awards.
Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture will obviously be competing for “Best Game” at the 2016 BAFTAs, and also for “Best British Game,” “Artistic Achievement,” “Audio Achievement,” “Game Innovation,” “Music,” “Original Property,” and “Story.” Two nominations in the “Performer” category (one for Merle Dandridge and one for Oliver Dimsdale) round out its double digit list of accolades.
However, five other games (Fallout 4, Life Is Strange, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Rocket League, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt) are also up for “Best Game” and any one of them could easily steal the spotlight from Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture.
We’ll find out who takes the top prize on Thursday, April 7, when comedian Dara O’Briain returns to host the festivities, which will be televised via Twitch and BAFTA.org. The complete list of nominees in all categories can be found after the break. (more…)
Capcom reveals a few details about Alex and the rest of Street Fighter V’s first update
Street Fighter V‘s first major update will be released later this month, and today, Capcom revealed more information about fans should expect.
The centerpiece of this update is the inclusion of Alex, the game’s first downloadable character. Players can use Fight Money, Street Fighter V’s in-game currency to obtain Alex for free, but the he’ll also be available for sale individually and as part of the game’s Season Pass. Alex originally made his debut in 1997’s Street Fighter III and he retains a lot of his grappling abilities in his latest incarnation:
About Alex
In Street Fighter V, Alex returns as a powerful grappler that can inflict big damage with his close range Power Bomb command grab and his long limbs to fight from midrange distances. The threat doesn’t end there however, as Alex has a variety of special attacks that can cover a large portion of the screen for those times when the opponent keeps him out. Players looking for a methodical grappler who can do big burst damage up close, yet still do well at midrange, will find themselves perfectly at home with Alex.V-Skill: Overhaul
Alex stretches and gets ready to land the next killer blow. Once Alex finishes his animation, the very next attack he pulls off will count as a hard hit and damage the opponent as if they were counter attacked. If that attack misses or is blocked however, he loses the hard hit bonus.V-Trigger: Rage Shift
Alex channels his wrestling training and gains access to a brand new clothesline attack. This attack can be charged and during that time, it can parry an attack. Upon full charge, if Alex makes contact with a blocking opponent, he will break their guard, leaving them open to an immediate attack.Critical Art: Heavy Hammer
Alex hits the opponent with a thunderous chop that knocks the opponent around. He then grabs them and takes them up to the highest of heights in a crucifix hold, only to viciously drop them down on their heads at the fastest of speeds.
You can head on over to the Capcom-Unity blog for more details on the free portion of the update including a Challenge Mode complete with Tutorials and Trials for each fighter, the In-Game Shop, and an online rematch option.
Posted in News, PC, PS4
Tagged Street Fighter V
Deep Silver taps Sumo Digital to complete Dead Island 2 development
Deep Silver has momentarily shoved Dead Island 2 aside to promote the release of this May’s Dead Island: Definitive Collection. But the publisher plans to return to the troubled sequel in the near future and they’ve confirmed to MCV that development will be continued by Sumo Digital.
“Sumo showed so much understanding of the brand, had creative ideas and an excellent, vision that was aligned with our own,” Koch Media CEO Dr. Klemens Kundratitz told MCV.
“It just made perfect sense for us to move the project to them. We will reveal more details at a later stage, but for now I’d like to say that we are obviously super excited about the progress that we are making with them.”
Development on Dead Island 2 originally began at Yager, but Deep Silver yanked the game away from the Spec Ops: The Line team after their progress didn’t meet the publisher’s expectations.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Dead Island 2
Telltale will unmask their Batman game at SXSW 2016
Telltale CEO Kevin Bruner is understandably excited about the developer’s upcoming Batman project, but we’ve yet to get a really good look at the game. That’ll all change next week at the 2016 SXSW Gaming Expo.
Bruner, along with Executive Producer TQ Jefferson, writer Pierre Shorette, and PR guru Job Stauffer, are taking a trip down to Austin to present “Batman: Telltale Unmasked,” a panel with comedian Greg Miller. The Telltale team will delve into what make’s The Batman (and Bruce Wayne) tick, and the reasons behind his neverending battle with Gotham City’s underworld:
Hear the first details on Telltale’s upcoming new series as Greg Miller interviews the award-winning developers to dive deeper into the complex life and mind of Bruce Wayne, the duality of his own identity, and the struggle of responsibility in saving a city overcome with corruption and villainy.
“Batman: Telltale Unmasked” will be held on Friday, March 18, at 4:30 PM in Ballroom C at the Austin Convention Center.
Street Fighter V Review: Here Comes A (Mostly) New Challenger
In 1991, my friends and I habitually visited Fielder’s Choice, a sports card shop in the Chicagoland area. There, we bought and traded cards with fellow card aficionados. My poison of choice were the baseball cards from Topps. I even think I still have my Roberto Alomar Desert Shield card still laying around somewhere. Sorry, I’m getting off-base here. The reason I mention this shop is because one day, we strolled into Fielder’s Choice and saw that the owner had put up a Street Fighter II arcade machine. That day, we ended up spending all our card money on this new, amazing game.
For months after that, we ditched the card-collecting scene and joined in on the fun, fast-paced world of beating the crap out of each other. Later, my buddy Andy got the console version for his Super Nintendo. A few months after that, Fielders Choice went under. I’m not saying it’s a direct correlation, but yeah. Point being, I grew up with the Street Fighter franchise. But as the years went by, we grew in two different directions. The fighting system became way too sophisticated, and just I couldn’t keep up. When I finally got into Street Fighter IV, I wasn’t able to last thirty seconds in an online match. Expecting more of the same, I came into Street Fighter V with some trepidation. But now, I’m feeling a lot like I did 25 years ago. (more…)
Posted in PC, PS4, Reviews, Top Story
Tagged Street Fighter V
Doom’s Closed Beta begins on March 31… watch the new Multiplayer Trailer now
If you pre-ordered Wolfenstein: The New Order back in 2014, it’s finally going to pay off, as Bethesda has announced that’s Doom‘s multiplayer beta will begin on Thursday, March 31, at 10:00 PM (Eastern Time). Players will get to strap themselves in for a four-day fragfest of epic proportions as the beta is scheduled to conclude on Sunday, April 3, at midnight (Eastern Time).
Bethesda also released a new Multiplayer Trailer today to prepare players for the brutal and bloody beta. Further intel is available at the Beta FAQ page.
Doom will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on May 13.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Doom (2016)